Let’s Go to the Ex, for the 138th Time

<strong>Crystal Palace, looking north from the Dufferin Street wharf, 1881. Photograph of wood engraving after drawing by William Thomas Smedley. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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In the mid-19th century, you couldn’t claim to be a grand fair without a Crystal Palace. Like those elsewhere, Toronto’s was inspired by Sir James Paxton’s design for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, England. <br />
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Our <a href="http://torontoist.com/2008/08/historicist_an_exhibition_in_crysta/">Crystal Palace</a> went through two incarnations. The first was built near the Provincial Lunatic Asylum (present site of CAMH) off Queen Street for the 1858 provincial fair. When that building was dismantled in 1878, portions were incorporated into a new structure at the new exhibition grounds. Used as an iconic representation of the Industrial Exhibition during its early years, the building burned down in 1906. It was replaced by the Horticulture Building (now Muzik).<br />

<strong>Card advertising “Last Days of Pompeii” grandstand spectacle, 1886. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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During the 1880s, a tradition of evening spectacles began at the grandstand. These shows mixed pyrotechnics with grand recreations of historical events. The shows were a mix of presentations imported from other fairs and locally created content. Starting in 1883 with a mounting of the previous year’s British <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Alexandria">bombardment of Alexandria</a>, most of the spectacles depicted military battles.<br />
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For the 1886 fair, Toronto theatre artist S.R.G. Penson was hired to paint a mural of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. The size of his backdrop forced it to be placed outside of the grandstand. In front of it, spectators were treated to a series of performances before the reenactment of the volcanic disaster that ruined the Roman city in 79 AD.<br />

<strong>Broadside for “The Siege of Sebastopol” grandstand spectacle, 1888. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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A grandstand spectacular required plenty of manpower. Productions averaged 400 performers by the end of the 1890s. The apex may have been 1902’s “The Orient,” which used 800 performers and a 60-piece orchestra. While most of the spectacles garnered positive press, there were occasional snoozers—an 1897 recreation of the procession through London to celebrate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee likely only entertained the most diehard Anglophiles. <br />
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“The Siege of Sebastopol” depicted the Crimean War in all its gory glory. “No end of imaginary blood was shed,” the <em>Globe</em> observed. “The slaughter was immense, but in the end Sebastopol was taken and then the combatants shook hands, and when they went to bury their dead, found there were none.” The production climaxed with an exploding fort and the appearance of a Union Jack.<br />
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In later years, the Grandstand offered variety shows mixing local talent with headliners from south of the border. <br />

<strong>Poster for 1894 edition of the Industrial Exhibition. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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The insets show off the fair’s buildings and agricultural competitions. The media loved mocking rural visitors who descended on the fair each year, whether it was for their earthy looks or for their evident discomfort with city life. For example, here's <em>Saturday Night</em> editor <a href="http://torontoist.com/2012/06/historicist-the-news-of-toronto/">E.E. Sheppard’s</a> way of describing how the hicks handled streetcars:<br />
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“They get on the cars as if it were too much to expect the conduct to wait another half-second for them. They get their fare ready at once and hold it in position until the box comes round. They won’t pack themselves in as their neighbours do. They are not as careful to put their feet away where they will not be stepped on, and from the moment they take passage until they get off they are continually alert for the jumping-off place.”<br />

<strong>Ticket for opening of the 1901 Industrial Exhibition. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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The bearer and his lady likely encountered a traffic jam getting to the fairgrounds. It was reported that the crunch of horses and carriages was so bad during Citizens’ Day in 1885 that cyclists found it impossible to weave around them. <br />

<strong>Ruins of Grandstand following fire, November 1906. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 12.</strong><br /><br />
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The fire that destroyed the Crystal Palace (by then known as the Transportation Building) on October 18, 1906 took the second incarnation of the grandstand with it. A replacement designed by <a href="http://torontoist.com/2008/08/historicist_torontos_first_skyscrap/">George Gouinlock</a> arose the following year and was used until another blaze destroyed it in April 1946. The fourth grandstand opened for the 1948 fair and evolved into Exhibition Stadium. <br />

<strong>Dufferin Gate, circa 1908. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 272.</strong><br /><br />
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Like other fair structures, the Dufferin Gate has gone through several incarnations. The original version, depicted here, met its demise as part of the changes that accompanied the gradual shift to the fair's new name, the Canadian National Exhibition. First seen in advertising around 1903, the new fair title was officially adopted in 1912.<br />

<strong>Dufferin Gate, November 16, 1942. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 1, Item 1659.</strong><br /><br />
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Made in 1910, the second Dufferin Gate arrived near the end of a building boom at the exhibition grounds that included the construction of the Manufacturers’ Building in 1902 and the installation of the Gooderham Fountain in 1911. This entrance welcomed visitors until it was demolished to make way for the Gardiner Expressway in the late 1950s. <br />

<strong>Cartoon, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, August 27, 1912.</strong><br /><br />
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We suspect that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Arthur,_Duke_of_Connaught_and_Strathearn">Duke of Connaught</a> ate more than hot dogs when, in his role as Governor-General, he officially opened the fair on August 26, 1912. An excerpt from his address:<br />
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“The educational side of such exhibitions as this is of the greatest value to the public, for they can see and examine the very best that can be produced in the various lines of exhibits, and though the material profits may be small, and the exhibitions may sometimes be conducted under financial difficulties; yet the indirect profits to the nation are great, for exhibitions stimulate trade and set a high standard for those who visit them with intelligence.”<br />

<strong>CNE Midway freak show, 1912. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2516.</strong><br /><br />
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Sideshows were part of the fabric of the CNE from the beginning, even if early presentations strove for respectability. One of the most popular attractions of the 1879 fair was a “glass hen,” an incubator that hatched over 6,000 chicks. Attendees paid a dime to see this marvel, and could buy the chicks as a souvenir. Who knows if this prompted the Victorian equivalent of a backyard chicken boom?<br />
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By 1912, the acts and displays we associate with the classic sideshow were out in force. It’s tempting to create a fictionalized account involving the clown drummer, the hawker, and the snake-charming talents of Ms. Cleopatra. <br />

<strong>CNE Midway game featuring caricatures of Kaiser Wilhelm II, between 1914 and 1918. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 880.</strong><br /><br />
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Though its grounds were used for military barracks during the First World War, the CNE carried on during the conflict. Midway games poked fun at the enemy, especially Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.<br />

<strong>Poster for the 1919 Canadian National Exhibition. CNE Archives. </strong><br />
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Returning soldiers are saluted in this poster. It was wise to declare 1919 a “victory year,” instead of a “peace year,” a slogan whose allure fizzled in 1914 when it became clear the war wasn’t going to end quickly. <br />

<strong>CNE Coliseum construction, interior of arena, November 10, 1921. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Item 946a.</strong><br /><br />
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The Princes’ Gates were part of a construction streak during the 1920s that also saw the arrival of some other structures that have survived into the present day. Among them are the Coliseum, the Ontario Government Building, (now the Liberty Grande), and the Automotive Building (now the Allstream Centre).<br />

<strong>Prince of Wales at Canadian National Exhibition, 1919. Photo by Reginald Symonds Timmis. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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The big draw at the 1919 CNE was a visit on August 25 by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII). He told a luncheon crowd that he was delighted to visit Toronto after all he had heard about the city from Canadian soldiers. “It seemed to me that a lot of them came from this great city, and I know no finer soldiers or better friends.” He promised that he would do his best “to be worthy of Canada’s friendship and of Canada’s trust.”<br />
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That trust would be tested by the abdication crisis of 1936, and his subsequent actions as the Duke of Windsor.

<strong>Sketch of the Princes’ Gates by Owen Staples, circa 1928. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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Eight years after his 1919 triumph, the Prince of Wales returned to the CNE with his brother Prince George (later the Duke of Kent). On August 30, 1927, they dedicated the Princes’ Gates. Stepping back to look at the arch, the heir to the throne noted, “it’s very fine, isn’t it?”<br />

<strong>Lost Children Tent, 1923. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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The police did a bustling business in watching over children who couldn’t find their parents amid the crush of humanity. (The two boys in the front of this picture look pretty content, though.) By the 1940s, newspapers began running pictures of the first kids to officially declare themselves lost (or “losted,” as one little darling declared to a friendly constable).<br />

<strong>CNE Ferris Wheels at night, circa 1924. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2017A</strong><br /><br />
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Ever since fairgoers experienced 13 seconds of adrenaline on the Switchback roller coaster in 1885, amusement rides have been part of the CNE experience. The Conklin family didn’t enter the picture until 1937, when <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/archives/discover/programs/t/telescope/telescope-jan-26-1971.html">James “Patty” Conklin</a> won the midway contract. It was a few more years before the “Conko the Clown” logo was plastered around the grounds. <br />

<strong>Advertisement, the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, June 12, 1942.</strong><br><br />
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As the Second World War intensified, the federal government requested use of Exhibition Park (as the grounds were then known) for military use. CNE officials agreed to cancel the fair for the duration. A <em>Globe and Mail</em> editorial praised the decision, congratulating officials “upon the sacrifice they are making to help in the all-important task of training Canadian fighting men for the stern trials which lie ahead.”<br />
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When the war ended, Mayor Robert Saunders complained that the military had made a mess of the grounds. He estimated that at least $1.4 million in repairs would be necessary. <br />

<strong>Map of proposed plan for Exhibition Park, the <em>Toronto Star</em>, April 17, 1946.</strong><br /><br />
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The fair experienced a setback in 1946 when the military announced it wouldn’t depart until that spring. Also, the grandstand burned down on April 14. Two days after the fire, CNE officials unveiled a redevelopment plan. Among its points: a new 50,000-seat stadium on the site of Stanley Barracks, a new food building, an elevated highway to the north, and an extension of Princes’ Boulevard.<br />

<strong>Advertisement, the <em>Telegram</em>, August 22, 1947.</strong><br /><br />
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When the fair returned on August 22, 1947, the number of attendees, which was 103,500, smashed the previous opening-day record by over 45,000 people. The occasion was marked with a parade of 20,000 war veterans, whose battlefield action stretched back to the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. <br />
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The comeback edition was captured by a National Film Board of Canada short called <i>Johnny at the Fair</i>, which follows the misadventures of a lost boy and the celebrities he meets. The lead role was played by four-year-old Charlie Pachter who, according to the <i>Telegram</i>, was more interested in test driving a car than shaking hands with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Little Charlie grew up to be <a href="http://www.cpachter.com/">a prominent artist</a>, while the film is best known these days as a <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn00ynJaOrk">Mystery Science Theatre 3000</i> segment</a>.<br />

<strong>Eleanor Roosevelt speaking at the CNE Bandshell, September 5, 1951. Others onstage include Ontario Premier Leslie Frost and Toronto Mayor Hiram McCallum. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, item 4173.</strong><br /><br />
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While the CNE Bandshell is usually associated with musical acts, it has provided speaking space for dignitaries. Eleanor Roosevelt, then serving on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, spoke about her work during the 1951 fair. According to the <em>Globe and Mail</em>’s Lotta Dempsey, “after three speeches, two broadcasts, a luncheon, a tea, and a tour of several exhibits, thousands of men and women watched and listened, sensing that they were meeting one of the great humanitarians of the world.”<br />

<strong>Crowds and TTC exhibit at the CNE, September 11, 1953. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1128, Series 381, File 262, Item 11092-2.</strong><br /><br />
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The notion of showing off new commuter technology at the CNE stretches back to an electric railway installed on the grounds in 1883. Since then, the TTC has found the fair an ideal setting for showing off its new vehicles, including its new PCC streetcars in the late 1930s, and the first generation of subway trains less than a year before the Yonge line opened in 1954. The man with the case in this picture looks as if he expected the red Gloucester trains to whisk him to work.<br />

<strong>Donlands Dairy display, Food Building. CNE Archives.</strong><br /><br />
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As per the 1946 plan, a new Food Building opened in 1954 to provide more space for vendors to sell their products or hand out samples. After a long day at the fair, who wouldn’t want a fresh-churned glass of buttermilk from this locally branded branch of the Weston food empire?<br />

<strong>Shell Oil Tower during construction, August 1955. Photo by James Salmon. Toronto Public Library.</strong><br /><br />
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The 36-metre-high <a href="http://jbwarehouse.blogspot.ca/2012/09/past-pieces-of-toronto-shell-oilbulova.html">Shell Oil Tower</a> was part of a building wave during the 1950s and 1960s that included the Better Living Centre, the Queen Elizabeth Building, and the original Hockey Hall of Fame. Promotional materials from the tower’s debut in 1955 promised a great new place to meet and observe the grounds:<br />
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“There’s a new landmark at the ‘Ex.’ It’s the Shell Oil Tower, whose gleaming glass walls and giant clock add a new feature to the skyline. An elevator is waiting to whisk you to the observation platform, far above the ground, where you can look down on the breathtaking spectacle of the greatest show on earth, the Canadian National Exhibition...look out over Metropolitan Toronto. Here is a unique bird’s eye view which makes a trip up the Shell Tower a must for every visitor to the Exhibition. You’ll find the Shell Tower straight through the Princes’ Gates. Make it a meeting place—get into the habit of saying to your friends: ‘Meet me at the Shell Oil Tower.’”<br />
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After two years of disuse because of safety issues, the tower (rebranded as the Bulova Tower in 1973) was demolished in 1985 to make space for a pit stop during the Molson Indy.<br />

<strong>Postcard, undated. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 362, Item 3.</strong><br /><br />
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Reflecting on the history of the CNE in his 1973 book on the topic, James Lorimer noted the eternal grousing about how the current fair isn't as good as those in previous years. Change the figures and attractions, and his sentiment still applies:<br />
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“For the last ten years or so, Toronto residents have been complaining about the CNE. People find it easier to be enthusiastic about the Ex they remember than the one they visit now. In many ways that judgement is unjustified; three million people go every year and obviously have a good time, visiting the butter sculpture, seeing the prize Ontario chickens, buying T-shirts with “Keep It Canadian” stencilled on the front, riding on the Octopus and the Exhibition Flyer, watching the stunt men in the air show, eating ice-cream sandwiches. Yet the Ex has been declining…Fine exhibition buildings have been demolished; the exhibits are a pale imitation of what they once were; the traditions of the grandstand show have disappeared; no one would describe the fireworks display as the best ever mounted in Toronto.”<br />
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The fair rolls on, even if many of its old exhibition functions have been swallowed up by other trade shows, and even if the midway’s thunder has been stolen by Canada’s Wonderland. Despite a number of redevelopment schemes, the CNE remains an evolving creature. Who knows what will supplant stunt food as its next major draw?<br />

When it debuted in 1879, the Canadian National Exhibition fit with the era’s notions of grand fairs as showcases for the march of progress. “From its inception,” observes Keith Walden in his book on the fair’s early years, “the exhibition was an expression of confidence in Toronto, and it quickly came to be seen as a key element in the city’s, and the nation’s, ongoing success. Dramatic forward strides evident at the fair provoked frequent expressions of nationalistic pride and made it a logical place to boost the settlement of hinterland areas. At the fair, visitors could see what material progress meant and how it was being achieved.”

The CNE began as a protest against a provincial fair, which had rotated among several cities since 1846. Toronto leased a portion of the Fort York Garrison Common in 1878 for that year’s fair in the hope that organizers might permanently settle the event in the city. When officials decided to hold the next fair in Ottawa, Toronto businessmen and politicians made plans to run their own exhibition. The result was the opening of what was then known as the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, on September 2, 1879. The first Ex included an official address by the Governor-General (the Marquess of Lorne, who was Queen Victoria’s son-in-law), a wide range of agricultural and industrial exhibits, and novelties like an office carved entirely from soap.

Over 138 years, the fair has soared as high as its tallest roller coaster and sunk as deep as the lake bed. Our gallery will take you on an adventure through the CNE’s history, to gear you up for the fair’s opening this Friday, August 19.

Additional material from Becoming Modern in Toronto: The Industrial Exhibition and the Shaping of a Late Victorian Culture by Keith Walden (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), The Ex: A Picture History of the Canadian National Exhibition by James Lorimer (Toronto: James Lewis & Samuel , 1973), Once Upon a Century: 100 Year History of the ‘Ex’ (Toronto: J.H. Robinson Publishing, 1978), and the following newspapers: the September 14, 1888 edition of the Globe; the April 21, 1942, November 29, 1945, and September 5, 1951 editions of the Globe and Mail; the September 20, 1890 edition of Saturday Night; the August 25, 1919, April 17, 1946, and August 22, 1955 editions of the Toronto Star; and the August 26, 1912, August 30, 1927, and August 23, 1947 editions of the Telegram.